Dots. Then:
Mila:Will do. Get things straightened out.
A breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding eased out. I planned to do exactly what she said.
Theo dragged a chair out with his foot and dropped into it, ankle hooked over his knee. His gaze cut to Jax. “Elise texted again?”
We’d seen the text about Jax and Avery in the locker room after getting dressed. Salt in a wound.
Jax shook his head once. “She will. That public shit show just gave her a bullhorn.” He kept the ice on his ribs and braced a palm flat against the counter, shoulders set. “Avery told Chase before he saw anything on his phone. That killed the hit she wanted.” A beat. “Just not the explosion.”
“She tried to weaponize it.” Theo’s tone was flat. No question in it. Just a fact laid on the table.
“She’ll keep trying.” I leaned in, pushing the words across the space like a line drawn. “Which is why we get ahead of all of it.”
They both looked at me.
My knuckles whitened against the island. “We handle three things. Chase. Tori. The rumors. In that order.”
Jax’s jaw flexed. Theo nodded once.
“Chase needs time to burn through it,” I went on. Saying it didn’t make it easier. “We don’t hammer at his door. He’ll swing again if we do. Tomorrow morning, I go to him. Alone. Neutral ground.”
Jax lifted his eyes. They were steady, even through the swelling. “I’m not hiding from him.”
“You’re not.” I nodded. “But I’m not throwing gasoline on a live fire either. You talk to him after I break the glass. Not before.”
Silence stretched. Theo watched Jax, waiting.
Jax’s fingers tightened on the edge of the counter. “Fine.” He nudged the ice higher along his ribs. “Tomorrow, after you.”
I let out a breath. One piece set.
“Second.” I angled my gaze at Theo. “Tori.”
Theo’s body went still in that way he had when something mattered. No twitch, no tell. Just a new weight in the room.
“She’s afraid of Elise.” I kept my voice even. “You’ve mentioned it. Avery said it tonight. Tori might help if she doesn’tthink things will blow up in her face. Meaning, you and she are more than a passing thing. Is that a problem?”
Theo’s throat worked. “No, it’s a good plan.” He didn’t look away. “Tori’s in deep.”
“How deep?” I asked.
He took a breath, careful. “She won’t sit without clocking the exits. Keeps her phone face down. When it’s just us, and I ask about Elise, she whispers like there are ears in the walls.”
I hated the way that sounded. Elise’s shadow in every sentence.
“We pull her out.” The words came hard. “If she wants out.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Theo’s voice was even. Not defiant. Just brutal reality.
“Then we don’t force her. But you make sure she knows what’s going on between you isn’t casual. You go public if you have to. Let Elise see Tori’s not a pawn—she’s protected. Give Tori a line she can hold if she’s ready to take it.”
Theo nodded once. “I can get her to meet me. Not at her house. Not anywhere Elise has eyes.” He rubbed his jaw, thinking. “There’s that coffee place off Grove with the back patio. Nobody from school goes there. We studied there once. She liked that no one bothered us.”
“Good.” I gave a short nod. “Tomorrow. Early. Before Elise starts her rounds.”
“I’ll text her tonight. No details in writing—just a time and place. If Elise is monitoring her phone, it reads clean.”
